Federal officer slammed vehicle into a construction worker while pursuing a man who died in similar circumstances

A federal officer slammed a vehicle into a Houston construction worker and broke his leg, believing him to be a man who apparently died years ago, the dead man’s family said on Friday, further calling into question the account given by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The worker, 48-year-old Miguel Parra Hernandez of Mexico, remains hospitalized with multiple leg fractures and needs reconstructive ankle surgery, according to FIEL, a Houston-based immigration advocacy group. At a news conference on Friday, the group said the alleged suspect’s family had shared documentation proving his death.

Ukrainian president warns it will embolden Russian leader and intensify war as Moscow hits country’s power plants

• Power plant attacks reflect Russian blueprint to make Ukrainian cities unlivable

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has described Donald Trump’s decision to roll back sanctions on Russia as a “reward” for Vladimir Putin and warned it will embolden the Russian leader and intensify the Kremlin’s war, as Moscow launched one of its worst strikes yet on Ukraine’s power plants in an attempt to black out the country’s cities before winter.

The Ukrainian president also said he expected the Trump administration to lift more sanctions against Russia in the future and called for Europe to establish its own negotiations with Moscow as the US has sought better ties and business deals with the Kremlin.

Minnesota lawmaker’s attorneys asked for return of seized items and the preservation of any recordings of search

Ilhan Omar’s attorneys have asked the US Department of Justice to return property that federal agents removed days earlier from her home during a search.

The lawyers for the Minnesota Democrat contended that the seizure as “neither justified nor lawful”, according to a letter that the Associated Press reported on Friday.

Ukrainian president warns it will embolden Russian leader and intensify war as Moscow hits country’s power plants

• Power plant attacks reflect Russian blueprint to make Ukrainian cities unlivable

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has described Donald Trump’s decision to roll back sanctions on Russia as a “reward” for Vladimir Putin and warned it will embolden the Russian leader and intensify the Kremlin’s war, as Moscow launched one of its worst strikes yet on Ukraine’s power plants in an attempt to black out the country’s cities before winter.

The Ukrainian president also said he expected the Trump administration to lift more sanctions against Russia in the future and called for Europe to establish its own negotiations with Moscow as the US has sought better ties and business deals with the Kremlin.

Setting aside the jokes about the shortness of Katie Zacharia’s tenure as White House press secretary, the controversy over her claim to be a lawyer obscures a more damaging issue. For years, she promoted some of the most heinous and bizarre conspiracy theories bubbling up from the right-wing swamp. Simply put: Zacharia was ousted for the wrong reason. Her embrace of extreme and downright loony assertions amount to a much stronger basis for dismissal than her bogus lawyer claim.

Zacharia’s social media history suggests a worldview colored by baseless thinking, defamatory accusations and sinister fantasies — not exactly a good look for someone tasked with conveying the U.S. president’s policies and actions to the press and public with authority and integrity. The noxiousness of her posts and reposts was apparently evident even to her, since she deleted many of them before her new role was announced.

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Katie Zacharia is out as Press Secretary after 5 days on the job October 16, 2026 / 11:19

According to reporting by CNN, the Bulwark and the newsletter Popular Information, Zacharia has repeatedly accused people, particularly Democrats, of sexually molesting children. In April 2022, she reposted and later deleted a Truth Social post from “Stop the Steal” organizer Ali Alexander: “Democrats want to mask and rape your children. That’s their satanic platform.”

She repeatedly referred to Democratic operative and former White House chief of staff John Podesta as a “pedo,” apparently still connecting him to an outrageous child-abuse conspiracy theory that had been debunked years earlier. She later paid tribute to the late Robert David Steele, a conspiracist who claimed that children were being kidnapped and sent to a colony on Mars: “He was exposing the pedo rings of the elite cabal,” Zacharia wrote. “May he Rest in Peace and the work of his hands not have been in vain.” In another Truth Social post, she noted that “the radical left Hollywood elites are sick pedo cannibals.” She added, “Change my mind.”

Another of Zacharia’s reposts suggested that Joan Rivers’ death in 2014 was somehow connected to an insulting crack the comedian once made about the Obamas: “Remember that time Joan Rivers said Obama was gay and Michelle had a dick then suddenly died?”

This wasn’t the output of a mischievous teen troll; Zacharia’s controversial deleted posts and reposts date from as recently as 2022. By then, Zacharia was in her late 30s and had been employed in various senior communications roles, including most recently as an adviser to Truth Social, the Trump-owned social media platform.

Zacharia’s deleted posts on political issues were problematic for another reason. For instance, she re-posted and deleted a tweet accusing the Justice Department of covering up the crimes of people involved in the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, an opinion at odds with the administration she was tapped to speak for. Last year, she advocated suspending habeas corpus — the fundamental right to challenge detention in court — for migrants arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, an extreme and authoritarian measure. (Zacharia’s legal theory, if any, was that the Constitution justifies denial of this right in cases of rebellion or invasion.)

In its article Tuesday on this social media activity, CNN reported that neither Zacharia nor White House communications director Steven Cheung directly addressed the issue. In a statement, CNN reported, Cheung called her “uniquely qualified” and “whip smart to help inform the American people.” The White House responded to Popular Information’s request for comment by referring it “to the President’s TRUTH on Katie,” a post in which Trump praised Zacharia as “a loyal and brilliant supporter, right from the beginning.” Zacharia wasn’t asked about these posts in interviews with three conservative outlets, including Fox News, between Thursday and her ousting Friday.

Clearly, the safe space couldn’t last. Trump apparently realized that if she ever assumed the podium again, Zacharia would inevitably face a barrage of questions about herself. That, too, is problematic: A press secretary shouldn’t be the story. But Zacharia’s history of hair-raising statements rightly made her one.

The lawyergate bubble burst in just five days. On Thursday, in an interview with right-wing influencer Jack Posobiec — himself a noted purveyor of conspiracy theories — Zacharia acknowledged that she didn’t pass the California bar exam. On advice from legal experts, she said, she decided that it was proper to call herself a lawyer but not an “attorney.” She said much the same to the New York Times, which reported on Thursday that she had identified herself on LinkedIn as general counsel to a group led by a Trump loyalist. In the wake of a CNN report Thursday that Zacharia had shared at least 15 social media posts over the past two years in which she referred to herself as an attorney, she told Sean Hannity that those were retweets of a title she had been given — but she was out shortly after lunchtime Friday.

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‘If Hannity can’t save you, you can’t be saved’: Nicolle on Katie Zacharia’s record-breaking OUSTER October 16, 2026 / 10:10

But if Trump does indeed find another role for Zacharia in his administration, questions should be asked. Among them: Did she really think Hollywood “elites” engaged in pedophilia and cannibalism? How did she come by this knowledge, and who are the individuals who’ve engaged in these repulsive crimes? Is the Justice Department still covering up Epstein’s crimes? Does she truly believe there’s a lost colony of kidnapped children on Mars? As press secretary, there was no way Zacharia could keep the public focus on war, the economy, healthcare and the midterm elections while also defending a conspiracy about Joan Rivers’ death. But a less prominent position doesn’t moot the questions that should be asked if Zacharia is drawing a taxpayer-funded salary.

For Trump, media controversy may be on brand. The White House’s most recent top spokesperson had been a font of misinformation, outrageous “theories” and mortifying lies. In view of her boss’ track record, that may not be a bug or even a feature. It may be why Zacharia got the job in the first place.

The post The real Katie Zacharia controversy wasn’t her claim to be a lawyer appeared first on MS NOW.

• President Donald Trump chose Katie Zacharia to serve as the new White House press secretary.
• After five days, a White House official said that she is "transitioning out" of the role.
• Zacharia is among three other former press secretaries with tenures lasting under two months.

Katie Zacharia's first briefing as President Donald Trump's press secretary was on Tuesday. By Friday, the White House confirmed she was out.

The record five-day tenure came after days of missteps by Zacharia, and amid two watchdog groups filing complaints with the State Bar of California on Wednesday, asking it to investigate whether she violated California law by calling herself a lawyer.

While the longest-serving press secretary was Stephen Early, who held the post for 12 years under Franklin D. Roosevelt, only four press secretaries have lasted under two months.

Here's a closer look at White House press secretaries with the shortest tenures.

Katie Zacharia

Katie Zacharia made her White House press briefing debut on Tuesday and quickly came under intense scrutiny over her legal credentials.

Shortly after Tuesday's briefing, she was asked which state she passed the bar exam in and replied: "When I moved to China."

On Thursday in an interview with right-wing provocateur Jack Posobiec, Zacharia said she took the bar exam but failed, and never retook it.

Zacharia moved to China after earning her law degree in 2011, and told Posobiec she had already preregistered for the bar exam before moving to Beijing, where her husband was working at an American private equity firm.

"I didn't want to withdraw from that," Zacharia said of the bar exam. "And we knew we would be moving out to China, and I was obviously incredibly distracted and overwhelmed and excited for finally being married to someone who I had been long-distance from for at least a year."

She served as press secretary between October 12 and October 16.

Stephen Early

Stephen Early is both the longest-serving press secretary in US history and the press secretary with the second-shortest tenure.

He was President Franklin D. Roosevelt's press secretary for 12 years, from 1933 to March 1945.

Early then briefly returned as acting press secretary under President Harry S. Truman in December 1950 after the death of press secretary Charles Ross.

Early was in the position for 14 days, from December 5 to December 18, 1950.

Jerald TerHorst

Jerald TerHorst served as President Gerald Ford's press secretary for over one month, from August 9 to September 8, 1974.

He resigned in protest of Ford's pardon of former President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal.

TerHorst said he could not defend Ford's decision in good conscience, despite his long-standing friendship with the president.

Jonathan Daniels

Jonathan Daniels served a short tenure as press secretary at the end of Franklin D. Roosevelt's presidency and at the beginning of Harry S. Truman's.

That brings his tenure to 48 days, from March 29 to May 15, 1945.

He was appointed shortly before Roosevelt's death and stayed on temporarily to help Truman transition into the presidency.

Truman then selected Charles Ross as Daniels' replacement.

• Katie Zacharia left her White House press secretary job after five days.
• Anthony Scaramucci can relate.
• The internet is awash with memes that measured Zacharia's run in "Scaramuccis."

Katie Zacharia’s run as White House press secretary lasted five days, and memes about her exit are rolling in.

There is someone who can relate: Anthony Scaramucci, whose brief stint as Trump’s White House communications director in July 2017 became a pop-culture unit of time — a “Scaramucci,” or “Mooch” — for measuring short-lived political appointments.

Scaramucci held the role for roughly 10 days — six if not including the time lapsed between Trump's announcement and his first day — before Trump fired him.

Scaramucci has been following Zacharia's journey closely and, in a series of tweets, has gone from wishing her well to offering advice.

It started on Thursday, when Scaramucci placed his bet that Zacharia would "make it."

The bet on Zacharia was short-lived. By mid-Friday, Scaramucci was addressing her departure.

Scaramucci also offered Zacharia direct advice.

Meanwhile, the internet has been creating math equations over how many "Scaramuccis" Zacharia had lasted, suggesting she become the new benchmark.

Workers have long been told to stay in a job for at least a year to avoid looking uncommitted to future employers. A string of short stints can still raise eyebrows, but the dates on a résumé don’t always tell the whole story.

Leadership consultants have previously told Business Insider that quick moves that come with more responsibility and opportunities to build skills can strengthen a résumé, in which quick changes in roles could be seen as a sign of ambition and adaptability rather than instability.

Zacharia succeeded Karoline Leavitt, who left in August to spend more time with her young children. She became Trump’s sixth press secretary across his two terms, and the fourth to last less than a year.

While there is helpful career advice out there for Zacharia, a LinkedIn profile picture of Zacharia with the infamous "#Opentowork" tag has also taken off on X. The tweet was originally posted by the Democrats' official account.

The green tag itself has been a much-debated topic on the professional networking platform.

Some recruiters have previously told Business Insider that the label is the "biggest red flag" to hiring managers because it suggests "desperation." Data from 2024, however, show that workers with the public green tag receive 40% more messages from LinkedIn Recruiter than those who use only the private signal.